Category: Leading Women In Marine Science

Dr. Julie Vercelloni is originally from South of France where she grew in the Mediterranean Sea (literally). She studied Marine Ecology during her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and statistics applied to coral reef ecology for her PhD. Julie is currently working on diverse projects that look at combining state-of-the-art technologies and modern statistical methods to …

Richelle Tanner received her PhD from UC Berkeley in 2018, and is currently a marine ecophysiology postdoctoral associate at Washington State University. She is interested in rapid adaptation to climate change, particularly with seasonal extremes and their effects on inter-individual variation in physiological plasticity. Her current research focuses on linking individual responses to environmental variation …

"With my anxiety, I let it start to take over to the point that it was impacting my ability to give presentations and be the best version of myself and letting it be my excuse, which wasn’t OK. So if this is something you struggle with, do seek help because it won’t go away easily or in a timely fashion on its own."

"Many people who live in inland communities don’t realize they depend on and impact the oceans. Through my research interests on plastic pollution and marine debris, I’m able to relate their everyday decisions (whether or not to use a plastic straw or to bring your own reusable coffee cup) to large scale impacts on the oceans (plastic debris polluting shorelines, microplastic ingestion by endangered and/or commercially valuable seafood species, etc.)."

"Visiting extreme and isolated marine environments such as the Antarctic, knowing that you’re seeing a part of the seafloor that no one has ever seen before or a species that no one has ever described it pretty exciting."

"Overcoming the stress of exams and coursework whether during GCSEs, A levels or University is a challenge a lot of people can relate to! I’ve never felt like I can just sail through exams without much work so I have always put a lot of hours into understanding the work and trying to get it right – and sometimes I’ve completely missed the mark as to what I should’ve been doing! Luckily I have had a great support system in my family, friends and University staff who has supported, guided and sometimes forced me to take a break and step back from the stress (a really important part!)."

"The problem is not that women are not interested in marine science (or science in general for that matter). The problem is that science, industry, and academia have shown themselves to be inhospitable to women time and time again."